Arts & Culture

NEW YORK (AP) — With a combined $270 million in worldwide ticket sales, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately, leading to one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year. Jon M. Chu’s lavish big-budget musical “Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande…

Patient Samuel Ayala pets Aldo, a therapy Labrador Retriever, after a pediatric dental session at a private clinic aimed at easing children’s fears during dental procedures, in Quito, Ecuador, Oct. 22, 2024. QUITO (Reuters) — An affable honey-cream Labrador retriever named Aldo is helping you…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference at the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, June 17, 2024. SYDNEY (Reuters) — Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday social media firms would be required to destroy personal data used to verify ages of…

Jessica Lord, left, and Laith Wallschleger in a scene from “Christmas in the Spotlight.” (AP) — Two new Christmas TV movies have a Taylor Swift connection that her fans would have no problem decoding. “Christmas in the Spotlight” debuts Saturday on Lifetime. It stars Jessica Lord as the world’s big…

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan poses prior to the opening of the exhibition “Not Afraid of Love” at the Hotel de la Monnaie in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2016. ROME (Reuters) — The Italian artist who created the banana duct-taped to a wall that sold this week for $6.2 million, said in an interview p…

This combo image shows authors Percival Everett and Jason De León as they attend the 75th National Book Awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 in New York. NEW YORK (AP) — Percival Everett’s “James,” a daring reworking of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” has won th…

Home cooks prepare their entries for the Estafao (spicy beef stew) Cooking Contest on Feb. 17, 2024, at the Tinian Hot Pepper Festival. The 21st Annual Tinian Hot Pepper Festival organized by the Marianas Visitors Authority will be held on Feb. 14-15, 2025. MVA photo (MVA) — The iconic Tinian Hot P…

TikTok logo is seen through broken glass in this illustration taken on Jan. 25, 2023. SYDNEY (Reuters) — Australia’s center-left government on Thursday introduced a bill in parliament that aims to ban social media for children under 16 and proposed fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) …

A girl visits the tomb of Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 aged 15, in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Assisi, Italy, May 26, 2024. VATICAN CITY (Reuters) — An Italian teenager who used his computer skills to spread the Catholic faith will become the first saint from the millennial …